Wave Waikiki site sells for $21M

The buyer plans a 35-story luxury high-rise; a previous deal for the site fell through

A 2.2-acre Kalakaua Avenue site, home to the now-closed nightclub Wave Waikiki, has been sold to a mainland developer for $21 million.

The deal closed yesterday, according to Hilo broker Joel LaPinta, who handled the sale to Chicago-based Fifield Cos. from Oaktree Capital Management LLC.

Fifield plans to build a 35-story, 305-unit luxury high-rise building called Allure Waikiki, which will include 12,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space.

"Fifield is excited to be a part of the renaissance of Waikiki," said Tim O'Brien, Fifield's West Coast partner. "This proposed development will serve as a link from the Ala Wai Canal to the Beach Walk of Waikiki, and continue the resurgence of the new development that the city desires for this area."

The Wave Waikiki site, which LaPinta had listed for more than a year, was originally under contract to Paul Thoryk, a San Diego-based architect who planned to build a residential tower called Puaena.

But that deal fell through in February, and the lot went back on the market. It originally had been listed for $17.5 million.

Wave Waikiki, a longtime nightclub owned by Jack Law, closed its doors and auctioned off some of its items at the end of last month.

Fifield is a national real estate developer that specializes in urban-infill high-rise projects.

Two dilapidated walk-up apartments on the lot should be demolished later this year to make way for the new project, which is being designed by Architects Hawaii Ltd.

Sales for Allure Hawaii are expected to begin in the fall, while construction is scheduled for the second quarter of next year.